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As the Jewish population of Woodville grew in the mid-19th century, they began to organize religiously. Woodville's Jewish community consecrated their own cemetery in 1848. The first person buried there was Henry Brugance. As early as 1850, Woodville’s Jews worshiped together in private homes.

Rabbi Henry Cohen:In 1885, Rabbi Henry Cohen came to Woodville. Though he only served Beth Israel for three years, Rabbi Cohen had a significant impact on the young congregation. He was described in the American Israelite as having a “magnanimous heart,” that “[knew] no creed.: Cohen sought to encourage his small congregation to be more religiously observant, a very challenging task in an isolated community like Woodville. Most of the congregants were merchants who would face financial difficulty if they closed their stores on Saturday, the busiest shopping day of the week. Cohen was willing to compromise, and he convinced his members to keep their stories closed during the hours of Saturday morning services. Once services were over, they could open their stores to the throngs of customers who came into town on Saturday. Rabbi Cohen’s services drew several non-Jews who came to hear his compelling oratory. In 1888, Rabbi Cohen left Woodville to become the rabbi at Temple B’nai Israel in Galveston, Texas. His successors in Woodville included Rev. Dr. J. Korn, Rabbi Max Moses, Rabbi S. Wohlberg, and Rabbi M. Sessler.

A new building:In 1896, Beth Israel’s synagogue burned down but was soon replaced by a new and more impressive building on the same Natchez Street site. On July 30, 1896, the cornerstone of the new synagogue was laid with Masonic ceremonies. It was a substantial, one-story, symmetrical building with Gothic and Romanesque elements. Its details were highlighted in several colors. Its principal façade, facing Natchez street, was eight bays wide. A broad flight of steps led to a six bay porch with four doors. The porch was flanked by twin towers on podiums. Each tower had a cone roof topped with a large urn-shaped finial. The front gable end had a center roundel with tablets bearing Hebrew inscription. The congregation also built a small religious school building behind the temple. Next door was a parsonage for the congregation’s rabbi.Beth Israel flourished at the turn of the century. In 1901, The Ladies’ Benevolent Society raised $450 towards beautifying the temple in just one night after hosting a benefit dinner. With that money, they also started a choir fund and a branch of the Council of Jewish women. In 1901, the congregation adopted the Union prayer book, thus cementing their identity as a reform congregation.

Rabbi SesslerUnder the tutelage of Rabbi Sessler, the congregation thrived. One grateful resident wrote that their services were “well attended, the sermons of the present minister being highly spoken of.”The work he and his wife did to enhance the Sabbath-school was also deserving of highest praise. The following year congregational president IsaacHart delivered an address to the minister thanking him for his efforts:To you, Rabbi Sessler, worthy teacher in Israel, I must extend in the name of the congregation my most sincere thanks for the great zeal, love, interest, earnestness, and sincerity you have exhibited among us to the present day in the pulpit, in the Sabbath-school, in the public school and in the college and above all with the charitable institutions which are connected with the various churches in Woodville.Rabbi Sessler strove to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the non-Jewish community. For instance, at an interfaith service in 1902, his sermon entitled “Moral and Social Ideals,” stressed that it would be highly desirable if Jews and Christian would know more of each other, and thus gain mutual respect for each other’s convictions and opinions.

The decline of the community:As the cotton economy of the area went into decline in the early 20th century, the Jewish community went into decline as well. By the mid 1920s, the congregation no longer employed a rabbi or held regular services, and the remaining members sold the building. The building was moved to Main Street, where it served as a local theater until it burned down in 1930s.